CRUD MONKEYS!, the memories - good and bad - that this thread has stirred up!

Used to make Knorr chicken soup mix with half water, half cream and throw in a handful of frozen corn. So wrong!

My complaint is that Snickers and 3 Muscateers (sp?) don't taste good anymore, along with the Jolly Ranchers mentioned upthread.

Maybe it's a left coast thing, but I used to make and eat a whole box of Rice-a-Roni, which is sort of like the Kraft mac and cheese of the rice pilaf world. Hypertension on a plate with all that sodium. Full disclosure: my DH, who is a fancy food reseller to the hospitality industry has a line of truffle products that includes truffled couscous, truffled instant mashed potatoes (what a waste!) and truffled instant risotto. I cannot get enough of the risotto. Isn't that just the way of the world? The Italians perfected pasta and now kick our tushkies at Rice-a-Roni, too.

When I was a child, I was in college before I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Cream cheese and jelly was the default in our family. I still think peanut butter is a bit strange and the jelly should be Welche's Grapelade.

Me too. We ate peanut butter sandwhiches or PB and banana but never PBJ. I always thought it was a joke or something you served 2 yr olds. Then I tried it in college and my love of salty sweet kicked in.

I've never heard of cream cheese and jelly sandwiches. But it makes perfect since. My mom was serving jalepeno jelly over cream cheese with crackers since the early 80's at least. Now I'm going to try a cream cheese jelly sandwich.

The original tv dinners: We loved them as kids, but now that I think about it, it was probably the novelty that we loved. Our mother was a superb cook.

Same here! My parents were pretty poor and we rarely ate out or bought packaged meals, but when we did, they were a real treat.

I agree with this. My mother made a fantastic lasagna but there was something exotic about the TV Dinner version. It was especially so when some of the sauce got into the little brownie at the top of the tray. TV dinners weren't considered real food but they were fun lunches after a morning of sledding.

My mother was a health nut so TV dinners were a yummy treat. I loved the fake mashed potatoes mixed with the mushy steamed corn, mystery meat in red sauce and the little brownie (the best) or apple compote (consolation prize) in those foil segmented trays. For especially good behavior we got to eat the dinners on tin TV trays while watching the Brady Bunch on Wednesday evenings at 8. I think I often had on purple flowery velvet bell bottoms too.

AAAAAaaaaack!!! It was the decade of bad taste, both in food and lifestyle.

The original tv dinners: We loved them as kids, but now that I think about it, it was probably the novelty that we loved. Our mother was a superb cook.

Same here! My parents were pretty poor and we rarely ate out or bought packaged meals, but when we did, they were a real treat.

I agree with this. My mother made a fantastic lasagna but there was something exotic about the TV Dinner version. It was especially so when some of the sauce got into the little brownie at the top of the tray. TV dinners weren't considered real food but they were fun lunches after a morning of sledding.

My mother was a health nut so TV dinners were a yummy treat. I loved the fake mashed potatoes mixed with the mushy steamed corn, mystery meat in red sauce and the little brownie (the best) or apple compote (consolation prize) in those foil segmented trays. For especially good behavior we got to eat the dinners on tin TV trays while watching the Brady Bunch on Wednesday evenings at 8. I think I often had on purple flowery velvet bell bottoms too.

AAAAAaaaaack!!! It was the decade of bad taste, both in food and lifestyle.

I am so, so sorry if what I am about to say screams age to anyone , lol - but I wish I had been around during the heyday of TV dinners. You know, when they still came in the tin tray instead of a plastic or cardboard one, and I've heard they were actually a lot more tasty then than they are now. I like my TV dinners, but they definitely leave a lot to be desired!

Logged

"Some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don't fit into boxes." -Tori Amos

My grandmother is - and apparently always has been - very conscious of status and class. Since my grandfather was pretty high up in the corporate world, she entertained a lot and it was all about showing you had good breeding. Apparently she was a part of a wives' club where they rotated hostess duties each meeting and took the chance to pull out their good china and show off their lunch-making skills. One of the other women proudly served newfangled TV dinners one meeting and caused quite the stir - because everyone was so impressed at how modern she was!

My grandmother is - and apparently always has been - very conscious of status and class. Since my grandfather was pretty high up in the corporate world, she entertained a lot and it was all about showing you had good breeding. Apparently she was a part of a wives' club where they rotated hostess duties each meeting and took the chance to pull out their good china and show off their lunch-making skills. One of the other women proudly served newfangled TV dinners one meeting and caused quite the stir - because everyone was so impressed at how modern she was!

I think it was in the late 1990s or early 2000s that a restaurant in NYC started serving home-made replicas of TV Dinners. I doubt if the fad lasted very long but it got a lot of press for a while.

The original tv dinners: We loved them as kids, but now that I think about it, it was probably the novelty that we loved. Our mother was a superb cook.

Same here! My parents were pretty poor and we rarely ate out or bought packaged meals, but when we did, they were a real treat.

I agree with this. My mother made a fantastic lasagna but there was something exotic about the TV Dinner version. It was especially so when some of the sauce got into the little brownie at the top of the tray. TV dinners weren't considered real food but they were fun lunches after a morning of sledding.

My mother was a health nut so TV dinners were a yummy treat. I loved the fake mashed potatoes mixed with the mushy steamed corn, mystery meat in red sauce and the little brownie (the best) or apple compote (consolation prize) in those foil segmented trays. For especially good behavior we got to eat the dinners on tin TV trays while watching the Brady Bunch on Wednesday evenings at 8. I think I often had on purple flowery velvet bell bottoms too.

AAAAAaaaaack!!! It was the decade of bad taste, both in food and lifestyle.

I am so, so sorry if what I am about to say screams age to anyone , lol - but I wish I had been around during the heyday of TV dinners. You know, when they still came in the tin tray instead of a plastic or cardboard one, and I've heard they were actually a lot more tasty then than they are now. I like my TV dinners, but they definitely leave a lot to be desired!

Oh, gosh. I haven't thought about those in ages. Back in the 1970's when my parents would go out at night, mom would give us TV dinners. My favorites were either the Salsbury Steak with the mashed potatos and fruit cobbler thinging or the beef enchiladas with rice and refried beans. Does anyone remember if the mexican entrees came with a dessert because I can't remember one? Or in the 70's did places outside of Texas even have frozen mexican food TV dinners?

What I remember most is that they took forever to cook in the oven, or maybe to two impatient pre-teens it just took forever.

mentioning of Pizza Hut reminded me that I LOVED!! (with all capitals ) their creamy Italian dressing. I still like it if/when I go to Pizza Hut (it has been quite a while); but not LOVE. I think it had to do with the fact that at home when ever my mother made salad (which was almost every day); she would already dress it with vinegar and oil; so the Pizza Hut dressing was my first taste of a creamy dressing.

and count me in too as someone who use to love it when we got TV dinners or Pot Pies for dinner - which wasn't often at all.

What I remember most is that they took forever to cook in the oven, or maybe to two impatient pre-teens it just took forever.

Your memory is correct; they did take forever -- well, 40 minutes or so -- in a regular oven. My mother used to complain that she could make a real meal in less time. I didn't care. I loved the salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and corn, although the sliced turkey was a close second. My mother must have bought a cheaper brand, though, because I don't remember a dessert, until Healthy Choice meals came along.

Tried one this year and got through about 1/4 of it before the sweetness was just too much.

Cadbury Creme Eggs have changed since I was a kid. They used to have a lovely thick shell of chocolate and only a small amount of creme filling, so the sweetness wasn't too much. Now, they've got more filling than chocolate (cheaper to make, I guess) and I find them sickly.

I also think the chocolate is different. It melts faster, and it's sweeter and stickier.

What I remember most is that they took forever to cook in the oven, or maybe to two impatient pre-teens it just took forever.

Nope, they really do take forever in the oven. I remember looking at the box once while I had one cooking in the microwave, and read that it took something like 45 minutes in the oven. I've heard they turn out better in the oven than they do in the microwave, but waiting that long, especially when I'm hungry? Oh, ehell no, lol. I'm too impatient for all that!

Logged

"Some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don't fit into boxes." -Tori Amos

I used to eat lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, now I will not have them as my mother packed them as lunch so often while I was in school. I don't really eat many regular sandwiches between slices of bread these days for same reason. I prefer to have sandwiches theses days that are on some type of bun or roll.

Most packaged boxed mac n cheese: most of the cheeses don't taste like cheese to me